3 Weeks

by Gavin and Kylie Plus 4, 4:17 PM
I gave up on trying to update daily but instead am going to try and do it at the end of each week!  I'll be lucky if that gets done here at the hospital let alone once we get home. 

3 Weeks Old
November 24th, 2017
34 Weeks + 1 Day

Taylor Marie
3lb 14oz



Just to see how little they actually are. ;-)

Trynlee Lynn
4lb 1oz



And both of them together


And here are some pictures from the week!
Trynlee-Left  Taylor-Right

Trynlee has a birth mark on her hand and another one on her right shoulder.

Nana held Trynlee for the first time.

Daddy and Trynlee

Trynlee

Taylor-left  Trynlee-right

Apparently I didn't save enough pictures of Taylor from Snapchat this week. :-/

34 Weeks!

by Gavin and Kylie Plus 4, 11:15 AM
34 Weeks
Thursday, November 23rd
20th Day of Life

Happy Thanksgiving from 4/5 of our family!
Treyton is still getting over his cold so hasn't been to the hospital for over a week now.  


and from 3/5 of our family later on that day...
Hopefully in a couple of weeks, we will be able to capture a picture with all 5 of us snuggled up on the couch watching a little Micky.




Trynlee-left Taylor-right




Daddy and Taylor


Fresh out of the bath!
Trynlee-Left  Taylor-Right





Day of Life 18

by Gavin and Kylie Plus 4, 6:02 PM
Monday, November 20th

Today has been a rough day.

I didn't get up and pump when I should have last night.  This is generally when I call the girls' nurse and check in in the middle of the night.  This should have been my first sign that things were going to be a little rocky.  Instead, I walked into their room after dropping Treyton off at daycare to hear they had been "naughty".  This is generally how the nurses refer to the preemie babies having apnea episodes, or Brady's.

Taylor, up until getting off of her caffeine, had had zero.  Trynlee had maybe one a day but always self corrected.  Last night, Taylor had three that she self corrected with.  And....Trynlee had two in which she needed stimulation to come out of. 

My heart dropped.

Yesterday was such a good day.  They both ate well.  Trynlee took several half feedings while nursing and Taylor latched on and actually ate for the first time for six minutes.

The team came in for rounds and we talked about several things.  They breathing issues and Trynlee's low temperature.
1.  They could both just be tired from having a pretty big day of eating yesterday.
2. Not overly concerned with Taylor.
3. This is normal behavior for preemies born at their age, but still different than what we have been experiencing.
4. It could be the caffeine totally leaving their system.
5.  We need to watch Trynlee really close for the day.  She could be getting sick which could require her to go back on oxygen or C-Pap. :-(  If it is viral, they will treat the symptoms to help her out.  It doesn't look like it is bacterial but that could be very dangerous.  

Dr. Barden came in after rounds to take a look at both of them.  Taylor checked out fine other than he heard her VSD for the first time and then had me listen to it too.  I'd be lying if I said I knew what I was listening for.... I just shook my head to agree because I was already super emotional.  Trynlee also checked out fine and wasn't presenting any signs or symptoms of being sick.  He decided not to do anything at this point and to just keep a close eye on her for the day.

As the day progressed, things seemed to stabilize for the most part.  During her first couple of feedings, her oxygen would bounce around a little bit but by 4:00 she stayed in the 90s.

To say my nerves are shot would be an understatement....

And as I type this, Trynlee's oxygen has just dipped down again..

Please pray for a better night and day tomorrow!

This is the only picture I took and saved today.  I have a large oversupply currently because I don't know what they really need so I don't want to limit it.  I often feel like I'm going to explode and pump crazy amounts of milk before I can even let them attempt to nurse.


2 Weeks Old

by Gavin and Kylie Plus 4, 5:51 PM
2 Weeks Old!
Friday, November 17th

Taylor Marie
1580g--3lb 7oz


Trynlee Lynn
1620g--3lb 9oz



1 Week to 2 Weeks

in , , , by Gavin and Kylie Plus 4, 9:46 AM
2 Weeks Old--33 Weeks 1 Day


Friday--Day 8
Trynlee is tolerating the human growth fortifier in breast milk pretty well.  Her residuals, the amount of milk left in her stomach by her next feeding, have been low.  They have to be less than 1/3 of the previous feeding or the nurse has to call the neonatologist on call to see what should be done.  Both girls have struggled with this up to this point with the fortifier has been given.  Hopefully we're on the right track and their intestines are going to begin digesting it better.  After rounds, Taylor will also start back on the fortifier.

Taylor (left) and Trynlee (right)
Trynlee is currently being tube fed 29ml every three hours and Taylor is 25ml every three hours.  Taylor was a bit behind due to her blood pressure issues on day one.  When she was on the Dopamine to help raise and stabilize her pressures, she wasn't given any feeds.

Dr. Nduka gave the go ahead to take Taylor's central line out!  Our nurse, Rebekah took it out around noon, and I got to give her a bath!  I can't tell you how good it felt to be able to get to do this and not just watch.  She just laid there, whereas her sister screamed the day before the entire time.



I also held both girls together for the first time today!  My heart and arms were full!  Because they are sooo little and have very little control of their bodies, it was tricky to keep them both from sliding down.


Saturday--Day 9
Treyton is spending the day and night with Grandma Carol and Grandpa Larry to give Gavin and I a full day with the girls.  The amount of guilt I feel for not being with him weighs super heavy on my heart.  He made me feel a little better when we dropped him off and he opened the door and told us to leave.


We spent the entire day at the hospital snuggling the girls.  There were times that we even held them from feeding to feeding and really only put them in their beds when we grabbed some food or I needed to pump.  #storyofmylife

Gavin held both of the girls for the first time while I made a quick Target run.


Both of the girls have been placed on the "feeding protocol."  Because they have shown signs of wanting to eat orally and waking up around feeding times, they now get to decided when they get to eat instead of being on a strict three hours feeding schedule.  They have a 12 hour minimum and maximum that they have to meet.  Trynlee is more ready for this than Taylor at this point but they are more surprised that she is ready than the fact that Taylor is a couple of days behind her.

Trynlee also has shown signs of wanting to eat orally so has attempted to nurse several times.  She doesn't do a whole lot but has successfully latched and acted like she kind of knows what to do.

Trynlee

Taylor

Sunday--Day 10
We stuck around the hospital for the girls' first feeding and then hurried home to spend some time with Treyton.  The guilt of choosing where I should be at is overwhelming and often leaves me in tears.  I know none of them will remember but it's still hard.  He has become quite the Daddy's boy and also really likes to watch things on Netflix.  He also really enjoys being on the counter all of the sudden.  Somewhere between being on bedrest and the girls being born, we have lost all control.


Once the boys laid down for a nap, I scooted back to the hospital for a couple of more feedings.  They had both decided they wanted to eat early so I actually caught a nap myself which was needed.  When Trynlee woke up, she actually nursed for almost 10 minutes and we gave her credit for 8ml for the first time.  I also gave the nurses the green light to give her bottles through the night if she acted like she wanted to eat.  Knowing that they get loved on while I am not here makes my heart happy!

I got to hold them both again during a feeding before I headed back home to see T-Man before bed.



Monday--Day 11
It was a pretty quiet day around Room 374.  Both girls rested easily and woke multiple times around the three hour mark to eat.  Trynlee still tends to wake more and actually shows that she is hungry.  Taylor often just wiggles about or attempts to open her eyes.  Trynlee attempted to nurse several times but generally just fell back asleep.


Aunt Jen showed up in the afternoon and help Trynlee for a bit so I could do hands on care with Taylor for a bit.



Grandpa and Grandma Linda came in the evening and got to see Trynlee get her second bath.  She isn't a huge fan of the water and getting a bit chilly.  It sure is nice to hold a baby with no wires or cords though.  I call immediately following her bath though to get them put back on.  It kind of freaks me out at this point to not be able to see her stats on the monitor.  She was wide awake after her bath though and Gavin held her for quite a while while we waited for her nurse to come hook her back up.

My goal was to give both girls a bath but Treyton was beginning to get tired and melt down.  To say the least, when he gets tired, it gets a little ugly.  Trying to discipline in front of nurses and the other staff is just a tad uncomfortable also...especially when I'm not supposed to lift him or run after him.  To say the least, Taylor will be getting a bath tomorrow instead.  She was all tuckered out and sleeping soundly while getting her NG feeding.


After Trynlee's bath, she nursed for 33 minutes!!  This was the longest that she has ever gone.  Not that she stayed latched or actually ate the whole time, she was awake enough to keep going for quite a while.  Our nurses, Haley and Sammy, promised to love on both girls over night and attempt bottles if either girl showed readiness.

Tuesday--Day 12
Someone finally said it!  Dr. B finally said, "The girls are doing great!"  And...I bawled.  In front of all eight people that come into our room every morning for rounds.  Barb, the OT/lactation consultant, and I had had this conversation yesterday.  I just wanted to hear someone say that they were actually doing great.  She stepped in at this point and explained why I was crying.  They were happy, relieved, stressed tears--but they were good.  Dr. B followed up with the fact that he is always hesitant to say this because if things were great, I would still be pregnant.  Ya ya ya!  I totally get it, but that just isn't our reality currently and the fact that those words came out of his mouth were music to my ears.

Trynlee is continuing to try nursing and taking a bottle.  She took several bottles over night and a 20ml one early in the morning!  Holla!!  She gained 30g and is up to 1550g, I believe.

Taylor on the other hand is where a normal 32 week gestation baby would be and is starting to wake up for feedings.  I have been caught comparing them and get worried that Taylor isn't showing readiness to eat orally.  Dr. B has reassured me several times that it is more surprising that Trynlee is doing what she is doing, and Taylor is right where she needs to be.  She lost 30g by this morning at is back to 1470g.  This also stresses me out but they aren't changing anything for her yet.

Trynlee--Eating is hard work.

One step forward and one step back is how I feel the NICU goes.  I just feel like I'm constantly holding my breath.



After rounds, Dr. B made it back in to check out the girls.  He let me know that although Taylor has an ASD and VSD (two holes in her heart), they can't actually hear a murmur and it clearly isn't affecting her.  He, however, can hear a murmur in Trynlee's heart and let me listen to it.  He followed this up by telling me not to worry about it as it clearly isn't affecting her at this point either....


Other than that, we had a pretty low key day!  I had their nurse, Haley, give Taylor a bath when I ran home to pick Treyton up from Linda's.  When we got back around 6, we were surprised with a new door sign.  She had made them both headbands and done a little photoshoot with them.  It makes it a little easier leaving knowing that they get loved on while I am gone.



I stayed at the hospital to help with overnight care and to continue feeding them.  Because I have such a large supply of milk, I have to pump before I try to feed Trynlee so that I don't drown her.  I did opt to give her a bottle at 1:00am and she took like 10ml.  Taylor woke up for every feeding but just got a tube feeding.


Wednesday--Day 13
We had another slow day of learning to eat and working on growing.  I spend a lot of my day trying to figure out how to get all five of us signed up for insurance through the school.  I hope that I am not the only one feels like insurance is a foreign language...and super expensive!

I don't have a lot to report today or very many pictures apparently.  Rounds went well and there are no new orders.  Dr. B thinks Trynlee is on track to taking full feeds by mouth in 2-2.5 weeks, and Taylor is like a week behind her.  He may add more protein to her diet in hopes to see her grow a tad more quickly.  She is starting to wake regularly and show signs of readiness to eat but just doesn't quite know what to do when something is in her mouth.

Taylor--3lb 6oz
Trynlee--3lb 7oz

 Taylor

 Trynlee




Thursday & Friday--Day 14 & 15
I am not really sure what happened these days and I really don't know why.  I need to just get better at doing it before I got to bed....

Trynlee

Taylor

Taylor

Daddy and Trynlee

 Daddy and Trynlee

Taylor

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